Amcom in trading halt

Fast-growing telecommunications provider
Amcom
has put its shares into a trading halt, triggering speculation about its future. The shares, which were trading at just 10¢ a year ago, were suspended at 31.5¢, valuing the company at $226 million. Amcom also has a 22 per cent stake in
iiNet
. Dominic White

Sleep device maker
ResMed
recorded a 33 per cent lift in net profit to $53.2 million for the three months ended December and a 23 per cent increase in sales to $275 million due to strong demand for its sleep masks and flow generators in Europe and the US. It expects revenue from its home-sleep testing device to increase in the current quarter. It plans to offer its S9 flow generator in France in coming weeks, which analysts expect will increase ResMed’s gross margins. Khia Mercer

Foster’s
has renewed a contract with Mexican beer maker Grupo Modelo for exclusive rights to distribute Corona beer in Australia. Corona, which generates about $65 million earnings a year for Foster’s, has just over 4 per cent of Australia’s total $5.5 billion packaged beer market. Foster’s contract with Grupo Modelo was due to expire this year. The new contract is for about three years. Nabila Ahmed

Optus is boosting its capacity to offer third-generation mobile phone services in Australian capital cities by spending an estimated $90 million to double its spectrum in the 2100MHz band. It is acquiring 10MHz of spectrum from US technology group Qualcomm as part of efforts to meet the surging demand for mobile broadband services from iPhone and laptop users. Dominic White

Intoll
, recently split from Macquarie Infrastructure Group, said earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation on its 407ETR motorway in Toronto increased 7.1 per cent to $C444 million ($476 million) during the December quarter from a year earlier. Jeffrey Hutton